I wanted to extend Rodgers, just not sure about the contract

Aaron Rodgers looks very good so far. He appears to be a quality decision-maker, understands the offense well and his stats are very good. His 98.7 QB rating is not a fluke and there is strong reason to believe this rating will end up being fairly representative of the kind of play we can expect from him. Like the Pack did with Grant, I also like the idea of getting our younger players signed so we know we’ll have a strong nucleus for at least the next few years. I also recognize that we wanted to get him signed now so that it would count against our cap this year when we can easily afford it. For these reasons, I too wanted to extend Rodgers and I would have offered him a nice contract…just not this kind of contract.

I’m not writing this to be a poop or to be anti-Thompson or Rodgers – but the fact is, this is an extraordinary contract given to a player who has played 7 games. According to PFT here, Rodgers’ average annual salary will put him in the top 5 of all NFL players. (PFT also reports that the contract for new money is really 5 years at $63.5 million – a huge amount of money). Now I know contracts are all about the present and in 2 years, this may seem like a more modest salary. But the fact is, paying a guy who has played 7 games as a top 5 player is simply too much. When asked about the contract, Rodgers himself admitted he was surprised (I heard him say this in an interview picked up after the signing by WISN Channel 12 in Milwaukee). I’d say it’s usually a sign of overpaying someone when that person is “surprised” by the terms of an extension. Just reading the comments by Rodgers and his agent, it almost seems like they didn’t do hardly any negotiating because the Pack just came to them with an enormous offer. Now I realize, as PFT indicates, that the $20 million guaranteed is a bit less than what other elite players are offered, but it’s still a ton of money for a player with an injury history.

It’s hard for me not to wonder if this is also sort of an “I told you so” moment for TT. Fact is, he did tell us and if Rodgers remains injury-free and playing at a high level even for the remainder of this year, I would welcome any gloating. But Rodgers has only played 7 games and to sign him to this kind of contract seems to me to be a bit too much. I do recognize that with any contract there is risk, but again, this just seems to be a bit much. I’m just sayin’…

4 Responses to “I wanted to extend Rodgers, just not sure about the contract”

Yeah – he has only started 7-8 games so far. But, the guy has been on the team for three years prior to that. They know what they are getting and he knows your system inside and out. They have found an incredibly accurate QB with a strong arm who shows composure and good judgement in the pocket and has great mobility. I’m not saying he is going to be the next Favre, Young, or Manning but it is clear to me that Rodgers has the stuff to lead a team to a championship with a good team around him. Couple all that with his character and the way he has handled sitting on the bench for three years and the way he handled the entire Favre debacle and you have a keeper. When you find a guy like that who just happens to play the most important position then you lock him up even if you have to overpay a bit to get it done.

I think this is structured very nicely. The Packers, flush with cap space, have frontload this contract making the subsequent years both cap friendly and non-guaranteed. They have also largely taken the injury risk and loaded it into this year alone. After this season, the cap consequences of an injury to Rodgers (or him sucking) are very manageable. The ‘dead money’ so to speak would only be $7.42 million in 2009 and zero thereafter.